The basal body is a key organelle in the development and function of the ciliated oviduct epithelium. I propose an integrated morphological and biochemical study of the mechanism of oviduct basal body biogenesis, the biochemical composition of the oviduct basal body, and the function of the oviduct basal body in initiating cilia formation and in influencing the form and coordination of the ciliary beat. The long term goal of this project is to achieve a new level of understanding of how the basal body develops and functions in the ciliated oviduct cell. These studies may lead to the development of new contraceptive agents. The development of basal bodies will be studied in the estrogen stimulated chick oviduct in vitro. Cytological and biochemical techniques will be used to investigate how the ciliogenic cell synthesizes, transports, and assembles precursor molecules during basal body development. Of particular interest is how other cell organelles (e.g., golgi, endoplasmic reticulum, centrioles) participate in the formation of basal bodies. In order to better interpret these developmental studies, the chemical composition of mature basal bodies will be investigated. Analytical protein chemistry techniques will be used to study the biochemistry of basal bodies isolated from either the chick or the rabbit oviduct. Isolated basal bodies or isolated basal bodies with cilia attached will be used to investigate basal body function. Recently developed techniques will be used to reactivate isolated cilia and these reactivated cilia will be cinematographically analyzed to determine how the basal body influences the form and coordination of the ciliary beat. In addition, the function of the basal body as an initiator of microtubule formation will be investigated in preparations of isolated basal bodies.